The present invention relates to the field of structural surfaces for vehicular supporting pavements and the like, particularly airport runways, automotive raceways and pavements.
The collection of water, snow, and ice on such pavements has long been an acute problem, causing skidding and hydroplaning of high-speed automotive vehicular traffic thereon. Various attempts have been made, at best only partially successful, to correct or ease such problem.
One such attempt has been to longitudinally score the top surface of concrete pavements with a plurality of substantially parallel shallow grooves. This has somewhat reduced the skidding hazard but does not eliminate it because it does not get rid of water, snow, or ice collecting on the pavement, and skidding or hydroplaning thereon remains a hazard.
Another such attempt has been to provide an upper nonporous surface for such pavements having a high coefficient of friction, formed of an aggregate of particles of scoria or slag, bound together by a resinous binder [See: patents to Welty et al, U.S. Pat. No. 2,925,831 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,396,641]. Such pavements reduce the skidding hazard but do not eliminate it because they are nonporous and do not get rid of water, ice, or snow collecting thereon.
Another such attempt has been to provide such a pavement with an upper surface formed of a porous aggregate of particles of scoria, or slag, only partially bonded together with a resinous binder to leave generally vertical channels or canals therethrough for the passage of water [See: Welty U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,227]. This construction reduces the amount of water collecting on the upper surface of the pavement and reduces vehicular skidding or hydroplaning. However, due to the usually large area of such pavements and the small size and great length of the channels or canals through the porous aggregate, the passage of water therethrough is relatively slow. Another, and more serious disadvantage of this last pavement is that the porous aggregate surface must be laid and formed on the job site over acres of area by commonly unskilled workmen and requires the transport to the job site of tons of raw material.
For aircraft runway surfaces various types of portable mattings have been developed. Several of such types are described in the patent to Clayton et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,301,157 which shows and describes a modular type of such matting in which the matting is formed of modular units which can be prefabricated, transported to the runway site, and are laid by interlocking them together. This latter type of runway matting is nonporous and water, snow, and ice can collect thereon as with any conventional roadway surface, with the attendant disadvantages, some of which are pointed out above.